LAS VEGAS – Dana White is not happy with the way U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) handled their split with the UFC, specifically their CEO Travis Tygart.
On Friday, the UFC CEO put Tygart on blast for his comments on the statement made by USADA, announcing that Conor McGregor had re-entered the testing pool and that starting 2024 they were no longer going to run the UFC’s anti-doping program.
In those comments, Tygart hinted that the UFC’s objective was to have McGregor avoid the obligatory six-month testing window, consequently rendering the UFC-USADA partnership “untenable.”
White is not happy with the allegations.
“This guy went full Britney Spears and lost his mind,” White told reporters at the UFC Apex on Friday. “Get ready, you’re probably going to see this guy on Instagram dancing with knives, probably in the next two weeks or something. He went nuts. He lost his mind, and it is what it is. It’s whatever.”
UFC executive vice president and chief business officer Hunter Campbell and senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitsky announced Thursday that the Las Vegas-based MMA promotion will partner with Drug Free Sport International to run its athlete anti-doping program starting in 2024.
White believes USADA hurt their own reputation with the handling of the end of the partnership, and wonders who will want to work with them for anti-doping moving forward.
“I summed it up yesterday in one word – scumbag,” White said. “Listen, it is what it is. They did what they did. Think about this, they’re in a business where they’re looking to bring other sports leagues in. They were with us for eight years. We helped them put them on the map, they helped us build an incredible program. This is how you’re going to end your relationship with us? Who else would want to do business with these guys after that? Not me. So it doesn’t matter to me. We’re moving on, and good luck to him.”
